[HOME DEPOT CENTER CAMP] U.S. under-14 boys national team head coach Hugo Perez called in 29 players for a domestic
training camp at the Home Depot Center that will conclude on Sunday. All of the players in camp were born in 1999, with the exception of Ricky Mendez (born in
200) and John Hilton (born in 2001). The camp is the last before Perez picks the U-14 squad that will travel to Croatia later this spring. For the complete
roster ...

All of this is done through what's called the Olympic Development Program. The country is divided into regions. And each region is broken down by state. Each state has local practices, tryouts, and evaluations. This link should give you more information.
http://www.usyouthsoccer.org/programs/OlympicDevelopmentProgram/
Good luck...

The Federation seems to have forgotten all about the middle third of the country. There are plenty of talented players in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Missori... The absence of any player from the Midwest suggests that the scouting process is flawed.

David, you are right. They have been working with a majority of these boys for the past 4 camps. There are some news ones in the camp, and sure they will bring in others the future, but to crack the backbone of that line up will be very difficult because some of these boys can really play.

None of those kids are from ODP. Arsenal, "Some of those kids can really play" ??? What about the rest?? Shouldnt all 29 be really really good?? Joseph, you are absolutely correct in your simple assumption. Look a little harder at those numbers % wise and you will notice that strangely enough the ratios are very similar for most youth National Pools and Teams every year. California always gets 30-35% of the draw every year on most youth teams. East Caost?? Also close to the same at about 25%. Its almost like it's predetermined to what % each Region gets. The other Regions are the ones that are never close to the same. How can it be that California "always" produces the same ratio or close to it?? I am willing to bet other countries do not have this consistency.

Arsenal, I was being sarcastic. I dont doubt they are good but point is I have seen first hand how limited a search USSF makes for the truly best players. My son went to 5 regular TC's and 1 "Regional Tc fro USSF. He scored in most of them and avergaed about 1.5 goals in 30-40 minute scrimmages. He scored 2 in regional and he alwasys does so vs 98 or 97's. Never plays vs his age group at 99's. We hear nothing back from anybody. He is a highly skilled 6'2" 99'. Dont you think there something wrong with that picture?? Oh, yea. He isnt Academy but by choice yet because he chooses to. They pursue him constantly. We will sign with one to see what happens but regardless, I dont agree with procedure. Do you?? I am sure there are many many more like my son in USA, excluded for notbeing Academy. Now these few chosen out of few considered are going to get the experience of playimng National team vs other National teams that maybe others deserved. Look at the U17's. Do you think 1/2 of them will move on to U20's?? ISnt that a huge waste of valuable international experience and opportunity for better qualified U17's only because of politicos??

Your son is a good player, I don't doubt that. And I think you are making a good decision allowing him to play with an academy. Yes, I understand that you don't feel they are developing kids correctly, but heck, I still have not seen many clubs that do. Most of the good players that I know have developed by constantly playing outside of their club (indoor, futsal, etc) and training on their own. I have always viewed club's practices as an extra two practices a week and somewhere where he can play extra games. I don't see that changing my view when he joins academy this year. And by the way, in a couple of years, USSF wants to only select players from the academy system to national team camps.

Luis, if your Son is that good... I would not focus on US National team exclusively. Maybe you should branch out to other programs or over seas. Ill tell you right now. If my Son were to go overseas. We would probably not consider joining the national team until a much older age like 19 or 20 plus. I'm not so sure the US national team is the end all be all for everyone. It does get you recognition though and looks great on paper, and helps out the confidence factor.. not to mention free nike shoes :). But don't get to upset if you don't get an invite. Just keep focusing on development that is consistent and the results should speak for themselves. Good luck.

Arsenal, its not that I dont feel they are all not developing. With this new club we dont know much about but its a MLS pro team so its the best we can do in USA and hopefully it will work out. What I do klnow is he is getting the right training and development where he has been and I am sure many more can say the same. I also know that some other Academies are not developing, just recruiting. I know this for a fact because we were there too. My main point is USSF is doing everyone a disservice by giving just a few clubs exclusivety and full recognition over something that is not proven. If they widened their search to every corner of USA they would improve everything. If they picked players no matter the affiliation it would expose the one's that claim they develop but don't. As a competitor, nor my son or I want for him to make a USSF National team only because he will now be on an Academy team. It should be on the player's merit alone. USSF is already doing that pretty much out here.

David, I am doing that. Thats why I am so bold as to have my own name and risk they read and hold it against me. My son has created interest overseas already and he just turned 14. I just feel bad for many kids that deserve it. The cool thing about USA was that we used to root for the underdog. In youth soccer it's about entitlement, politics, who you know. Kiss the ring. Thats wrong. We will get where we want and this situation has only fueled our fire. We go through this bull at the state levelin Illinois and within our local leagues. It's all about who has the most $$$. But some day, not too far, we will make it change at least a little.

We are all with you in bringing about change, our kids should not have to pay an arm and half a leg to get trained or leave the country to find it. I believe you are doing the right thing with your club and hoping you get some respect for trying to develop players. Maybe you should get in touch with the klebian's from barca USA academy in Los Angeles. They are just as passionate about bringing some change to our soccer philosophy and have succeeded in turning heads in southern California. Those teams he has are amazing to watch. I'm sure many of those players will end up in our youth national teams some are already involved

Since this is mostly done through ODP, it will always miss players who do not elect to participate in that. There are myriad reasons, one is ODP is time consuming and it requires dedicated parents to deliver the player to 2 or 3 distant practices per week and with the cash to ensure travel to games, etc. High density populations are over-represented, simply because travel times to practices in the rest of the country is just not too much. Players who may look good at tryouts are often dropped due to "commitment issues". If your child is great, just get her on the best team with the best coaching you can afford in terms of fees, travel, commitment, etc. If he is good enough and has a fire in the belly to excel, then you need to find an interested college, MLS, or other pro tryouts at around 16 or 17.